WINNING 

SOULS 


By 

W.  G.  A.  MILLAR 


INTERCHURCH  WORLD  MOVEMENT 
OF  NORTH  AMERICA 

45  WEST  18th  STREET  N-EW  YORK  CITY 


PRICE,  2 cent!  each;  10  cenu 
per  dozen:  tl. SO  per  hundred. 


Copyright  1920 

INTERCHURCH  WORLD  MOVEMENT 
OF  NORTH  AMERICA 


WINNING  SOULS 

B,  W.  G.  A.  MILLAR 

Purchasing  Agent 

AMERICAN  BRIDGE  CO.,  PITTSBURGH,  PA. 

GO  THOU,  and  preach  the  kingdom 
of  God.”  (Luke  9:60).  This  was 
said  to  a layman,  a man  in  the 
crowd. 

When  we  obey  this  command,  things  be- 
gin to  happen.  We  get  plenty  of  excitement 
in  our  lives.  Any  man  who  will  live  abso- 
lutely in  the  will  of  God  for  say  thirty  days, 
will  find  such  a change  in  his  soul’s  condi- 
tion that  he  will  sign  up  a “contract”  with 
the  Almighty  for  all  eternity ; in  other 
words,  he  will  make  a complete  surrender 
of  his  will  to  God. 

As  we  obey  this  command  to  “go”  and 
tell  others,  we  discover  that  men  and  women 
in  the  business  world,  in  the  social,  political, 
yes,  even  in  the  sporting  world,  want  to  be 
saved.  Not  collectively  and  not  every  one, 
but  individually  hundreds  want  to  know  God 
and  long  to  find  his  peace. 

Soul-winning  is  a real  “man’s”  job.  It 
is  a matter  of  life  and  death — yes,  of  spir- 
itual life  to  the  man  that  is  saved  and  of 
spiritual  death  to  the  one  who  is  lost.  What 
are  Christians  going  to  do  about  it?  This 
is  the  world’s  greatest  problem.  Many  men 
on  the  outside,  as  well  as  on  the  inside  of  the 
church,  are  missing  the  real  joy  of  an 
“abounding”  faith  in  the  ever-living  Christ. 


4 


WINNING  SOULS 


They  will  not  give  their  faith  a chance  to 
grow  by  witnessing  to  others. 

Can  any  Christian  man  engage  in  this 
wonderful  work?  We  answer,  Yes!  God 
needs  us  in  this  work,  as  there  are  thousands 
to  be  saved  for  whom  nothing  is  being  done. 
Every  unsaved  man  needs  salvation,  and  in 
many  instances  he  is  only  waiting  for  the 
invitation. 

Here  are  four  essentials  that  will  insure 
success  providing  you  have  found  Christ, 
and  really  want  others  to  know  him. 

First:  Have  at  least  fifteen  minutes  alone 
with  God  every  morning. 

Second:  At  that  time  make  a definite  of- 
fering of  self  for  service  just  for  that  day. 

Third:  Obey  every  impulse  of  the  Spirit 
and  each  prompting  that  comes  to  the  mind 
to  speak  to  a stranger.  Not  to  every  one 
we  may  meet,  but  every  time  we  have  an  im- 
pulse or  thought  in  that  direction. 

Fourth:  Keep  very  humble  and  give  to 
God  all  the  glory  for  results  obtained.  “Hu- 
mility is  the  price  of  spiritual  power.” 

The  following  quotation  from  the  Sunday 
School  Times  is  a great  challenge  to  every 
Christian : 

“The  great  need  of  our  age,  and  its  great 
lack,  is  passion  for  souls,  that  swelling  tide 
of  intense  emotion,  that  outflow  of  life  and 
desire  to  serve,  which  lifts  a man  up  over 
his  selfishness,  his  sordidness,  his  timidity, 
his  indolence,  and  sweeps  him  on  to  the  high 
and  heroic  endeavor  not  for  one  splendid 


WINNING  SOULS 


S 


spasmodic  effort  alone,  but  steadily  driving 
him  through  the  months  and  years  and  de- 
cades.” 

KEEPING  GOD’S  APPOINTMENTS 

The  other  day  I arose  before  dawn  in  one 
of  New  York’s  suburban  towns  in  order  to 
have  an  early  start  for  the  business  appoint- 
ments of  the  day.  First  taking  the  subur- 
ban train,  then  the  “tube”  under  the  North 
River  to  downtown  New  York,  then  after 
business  hours  crossing  to  Newark,  N.  J., 
via  the  subway  to  speak  at  two  meetings, 
and  later  taking  a train  to  Philadelphia,  I 
finally  retired  to  rest  in  my  hotel  at  one 
A.  M.  During  these  nineteen  active  hours 
that  had  passed  since  my  early  rising,  many 
persons  have  crossed  my  pathway  to  whom 
at  every  “impulse  of  the  Spirit”  I gave  a 
tract,  told  them  about  Jesus  Christ,  or  had 
tried  to  help  them  to  a better  life.  All  were 
interested,  some  were  profuse  in  their  thanks 
for  my  interest  in  their  souls,  and  I know 
that  some  made  a new  start  with  God.  So  the 
thought  came  to  me  of  the  appointments  that 
God  had  made  for  me  that  day,  as  he  knew 
beforehand  just  where  I would  be  at  every 
moment  of  the  day.  He  knew  that  these 
very  persons  to  whom  I had  spoken  were 
in  need  of  him  and  were  without  the  “joy 
of  the  Lord”  which  only  faith  in  Christ  can 
bring.  Unknown  to  me,  and  unknown  to 
them,  the  Lord  arranged  these  many  ap- 
pointments, so  that  at  just  the  right  moment, 
in  the  train,  the  .subway,  in  the  office,  the  ho- 
tel or  on  the  street,  this  person  crossed  my 
pathway. 


6 


WINNING  SOULS 


Then  the  great  wonder  of  it  all  came  over 
me,  and  I just  thanked  the  dear  Lord  and 
told  him,  that  with  his  help,  he  could  de- 
pend upon  me  to  do  my  part  in  trying  to  win 
souls  for  the  Kingdom.  And  thus  for  every 
personal  worker,  or  winner  of  souls,  the 
Lord  will  make  these  daily  appointments  if 
he  is  faithful  and  willing  to  be  used,  for 
he  needs  you  in  this  service.  The  great  ma- 
jority of  people  whom  we  meet  each  day 
won’t  really  know  him,  and  are  only  wait- 
ing for  some  one  to  tell  them  how  to  come 
to  God. 

SOME  EXAMPLES  OF  BRINGING 
MEN  TO  CHRIST 

Dining  with  a friend  at  a business  club  in 
a western  city,  I noticed  that  he  was  in 
trouble,  and  asked  him  if  he  had  taken  the 
matter  to  God  in  prayer.  He  replied  in  the 
negative,  and  then  I told  him  what  Christ 
was  to  me.  He  thanked  me  for  the  message 
with  tears  in  his  eyes,  and  told  me  that  I 
was  the  only  man  in  twenty  years  who  had 
spoken  to  him  about  God. 

A few  months  ago  I spoke  to  a business 
salesman  about  the  joy  of  being  a Chris- 
tian. Three  months  later  he  came  to  me  and 
said  he  had  some  great  news.  Traveling  in 
a western  train  one  day  he  said  he  suddenly 
realized  that  I had  something  which  he 
didn’t  have.  So  there  in  the  railway  car  he 
yielded  his  will  to  God,  and  became  a Chris- 
tian. He  said,  “You  are  the  only  business 
man  who  has  ever  spoken  to  me  about  reli- 
gion.” The  first  time  he  was  told  he  came 
to  God. 


WINNING  SOULS 


1 


Just  the  other  day,  sitting  beside  a stran- 
ger in  a street  car,  a trifling  incident  started 
a conversation,  the  result  being  that  I gave 
this  person  a printed  tract  to  read,  entitled 
“The  Purchasing  Agent’s  Story.”  Later  in 
the  day  this  was  handed  to  a friend.  The 
following  week  the  second  person  called  on 
me,  saying,  “1  have  read  everything  about 
God,  but  have  never  yet  found  light  nor 
peace  for  my  soul.  You  have  found  him. 
Can  you  show  me  how  I can  find  God?” 
This  man  was  sixty-five  years  old. 

Recently  a corporation  official  asked  me, 
“What  are  you  doing  it  for?”  I answered, 
“So  many  years  of  my  life  have  been  wasted 
that  for  the  balance  I want  to  show  as  many 
men  as  possible  how  to  get  right  with  God.” 
“I  am  not  right  myself,”  he  replied. 

Following  a recent  convention  meeting  in 
a western  city,  a stranger  approached  me  in 
the  hotel  lobby  and  said,  “I  heard  you  speak 
this  afternoon.  Can  you  give  me  some  cop- 
ies of  the  tract  on  ‘Cussing  as  a Fine  Art  ?’  ” 
I said,  “Yes,  come  up  to  my  room,”  and  dur- 
ing the  next  hour  I heard  the  story  of  his 
life’s  failure  in  wandering  away  from  God, 
and  of  his  great  desire  to  get  right  again. 

At  another  convention  a young  business 
man,  who  is  a college  graduate,  came  to  the 
platform  and  asked  how  he  could  find  Gk)d 
and  get  back  his  faith  in  Christ,  which  he 
had  lost  during  his  college  career.  Too  much 
philosophy  had  stolen  away  his  soul’s  peace. 

Some  weeks  ago  a business  man,  an  offi- 
cial of  a great  corporation,  thanked  me  with 
a voice  of  deep  emotion  and  with  moist  eyes 


8 


WINNING  SOULS 


for  telling  him  what  Christ  had  become  in 
my  life,  remarking,  “I  never  saw  my  own 
life  until  this  moment,  and  what  I have 
missed.” 

Many  colored  men  on  the  railroad  trains, 
both  porters  and  waiters,  are  without  God 
and  without  hope.  I frequently  hand  them 
a printed  tract  and  find  they  are  eager  for 
the  gospel  message.  On  an  average,  two 
out  of  every  three  of  these  colored  men  are 
unsaved  and  want  salvation. 

Dining  with  a business  friend  one  day, 
he  said,  “There  is  something  wrong  with  my 
life,  but  I don’t  know  what  it  is.  I am  su- 
perintendent of  a Sabbath  school,  but  noth- 
ing seems  to  happen  in  our  school.”  I said, 
“Perhaps  there  is  something  that  you  ought 
to  do.”  “Do  you  think  so?  What  is  it?” 
he  replied.  I said,  “Ask  God  and  he  will 
show  you.”  I had  a good  guess  as  to  where 
the  trouble  was,  so  gave  him  something  to 
read  on  the  Surrendered  Life.  Soon  after 
he  wrote  me  a letter  saying  he  had  called 
on  his  next  door  neighbor,  and  was  greatly 
surprised  and  delighted  to  have  him  accept 
Christ  and  come  to  church.  My  friend  had 
made  a new  start  with  God. 

On  a recent  trip  to  New  York  I visited 
the  home  of  a Christian  business  man  who  is 
a great  soul  winner.  Almost  his  first  excla- 
mation was,  “I  have  great  news ! Since  you 
were  here  last,  the  ice-man,  the  plumber  and 
the  janitor  have  all  accepted  Christ.”  “There 
is  joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God 
over  one  sinner  that  repenteth.”  (Luke 
15:10). 


No.  547.  LW.  1. 25.  Mar.  1920. 


